Employees Can Now Bring Guns on Tenn. College Campuses

The controversial law still forbids students from carrying concealed handguns.

May 03, 2016 CS Staff

People working full time at public universities in Tennessee can bring guns on campus under a law passed May 2.

The controversial law requires full time employees interested in bringing concealed handguns onto college campuses to notify law enforcement beforehand and possess a concealed carry permit, according to the Washington Post.

There are restrictions on where staff members can bring their guns. Handguns remain banned in stadiums, gymnasiums, hospitals and meetings discussing disciplinary or tenure issues. Students are still not allowed to bring guns on campus.

The bill was opposed by many members of the higher education community in the state, with some employees threatening to leave their jobs if it passed. University of Tennessee Faculty President Bruce MacLennan conducted an extensive poll on the issue and found that 87 percent of faculty strongly disagreed that “allowing guns on campus is in the best interest of the campus community.”

Student leaders at Middle Tennessee State University and Austin Peay State University also spoke out against the bill.

Bill sponsor Mike Bell, a republican senator, dismissed the results of MacLennan’s poll and criticized the public’s suggested critiques to the bill.

“There’s a few reasonable comments on here but not many,” Bell said.

Campus Safety has reported on a similar law that passed in Texas a year ago. That law will allow concealed carry permit holders, including students, to bring concealed handguns on college campuses starting in August.

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